Surprises, Surprises!
Dr. Di Giulio, the PI of my lab, agreed to block off half an hour of his time for this interview despite the massive amounts of work that had piled up after his trip to Dubai (where he helped set up an Environmental Toxicology program at a local university!). Therefore, I tried my best to capture the essence of his awesomeness in a few short Q & A's (not quite possible). In case he decides to read this...I did the math, and you do not look your age at all!
What made you want to pursue a career in the sciences? In environmental toxicology in particular?
I was drawn to environmental toxicology because I liked the combination of biochemistry/ mechanical biology and field biology. It allows you to apply research to real world problems. I actually got my undergraduate degree in comparative literature, but I got my master's in wildlife biology. For my PhD, my mentor introduced me to environmental toxicology, which was a new field at the time and was just gaining in popularity. Toxicology had been around since the 50's, but it was more of a subset of pharmacology (testing the effects of drugs on humans). Ecotoxicology was largely inspired by Rachel Carson's 1962 book Silent Spring, and it took around 2 decades before it became a popular field of study.
What was your favorite class in highschool/college? Your least favorite?
Favorites? One class that comes to mind was a Shakespeare class I took as an undergraduate. That sounds funny now, but remember I was majoring in comparative literature at the time. One of the worst classes that I took was a literature criticism class; I hated it. I guess that made me realize that comparative literature wasn't for me. I got my bachelor's degree in 1972 in literature, but I decided that wasn't a field I wanted to pursue. My brother was studying at Harvard Law, and he tried to convince me to study law with him. I took the LSATs and everything, but I just wasn't that interested in law. It just seemed too dull. Actually it was a girlfriend of mine that pointed out, "Well hey, you've always liked nature and environmental protection; maybe you should try a career in that." So I started studying wildlife biology at Texas A+M, and I spent 3 years as a land surveyer and environmental engineer. Because I had spent my undergraduate years studying literature, I had taken the bare minimum number of science classes possible, so I had to take a bunch of basic college level science courses (genetics, molecular biology, biochemistry, etc.)
What has been your most fulfilling research project?
Well actually, the project that you all are working on right now, about adaptation- evolutionary ecotoxicology in killifish. I think that's really interesting. I did other projects on basic oxidative stress in fish models, pollutant damage in fish...I've been working with fish ever since I've been here. My graduate projects involved woodland ducks. We studied the effects of cadmium and other heavy metals on their metabolism; we did field work in Chesapeake Bay measuring their effects on avian metabolism. Field work is fun, but lab work is more intellectually satisfying, so I like to balance both.
What is the most important lesson you've learned in the process of becoming a scientist?
Let the data that you gather lead you. Don't be narrow-minded in your hypotheses. In the lab there are always surprises; be open to unexpected information. Let it shape you, don't try to shape it.
What is one thing that sets this lab apart from others?
I think that this lab has a greater degree of camaraderie than in most labs. It's really friendly, cooperative, and easygoing. I guess that's not unique to our lab, but our lab is definetly up there [in friendliness]. I suppose that's partially due to the nature of the work we do here; field work attracts idealistic people who aren't just trying to get a good job, but who truly care about what they are doing. Also when I take in students, I choose them for their personalities, not just academic scores. I like people who are open and outgoing and have a good sense of humor.
What are some of your hobbies and interests?
I love the outdoors. I like to go fishing and hunting, hiking with my wife. I guess my love of the outdoors led me into the field of wildlife biology. But that's kind of limiting. I really enjoyed my molecular biology and biochemistry classes as well, and one reason I chose environmental toxicology is that it lets you do both field work and more molecular stuff. It puts laboratory work in the context of the natural world.
If you could have one superpower, what would it be?
The ability to catch more fishes, haha. That's hard for me. I don't know...I wouldn't really want any super superpowers. I think those would be inconvenient.
What was your path to becoming the PI of a lab like?
Long and convoluted! At the University of Texas, they were just starting a new program called Plan 2 that was meant to replicate a small liberal arts school on a bigger campus. That resulted in better teachers, smaller classes, and allowed me to design a non-traditional major. I've had a lot of twists and turns in my academic career- switching from comparative literature to wildlife biology to environmental toxicology- and that resulted in me being about 4 years older than the other PhD students, but I have no regrets. As a graduate student, I knew that I wanted to be a college professor. When you want to be a professor and you want to do scientific research, that's basically what a PI is. My favorite class that I teach here is Environmental Toxicology (formerly Ecotoxicology), which is a graduate level class. I also co-teach Environmental Chemistry and Toxicology, which is my only undergraduate course.
What advice would you give to an aspiring scientist (high-schooler)?
Try to expose yourself to a variety of research opportunities. Stay open-minded. Some people zone in on one very specific area of interest, and if they are disappointed by it, they assume that that's just what science is like, but that's not true. Every field is different. So sample a variety of experiences- biomedical, environmental, etc., and get a feel for research.
